“Then write a few characters?”
“Write characters?” My words made Gou Danzi pause, then his face flushed slightly. “Are you mocking me, you brat? I didn’t go to school for many years, how could I write?”
The village chief and others also looked at me in surprise, not understanding why I would say that. Gou Danzi and I had similar experiences. His parents died in a car accident while selling sweet potatoes when he was young, both crushed to death. The driver was also a poor man who only paid a few thousand yuan for funeral expenses and was sentenced to prison for several years.
He was raised by his uncle, but his situation was worse than mine. His uncle was henpecked. The reason he agreed to take care of him was for the compensation money from his parents’ death.
So, from the time he lived at his uncle’s house, school became a side job, catching fish for three days and drying nets for two. Eventually, his aunt directly stopped him from going to school. Coupled with the blow of losing both parents, Gou Danzi resigned himself to his aunt’s arrangements.
The compensation money from his parents’ death was used by his aunt to fund her own children’s education. Now, his uncle’s family had all moved away from the village, leaving only a dilapidated house and a few acres of land for Gou Danzi, letting him fend for himself. His tragic fate was even worse than mine.
Regardless, I still had a drunken master, and although my father was in a coma, he was still alive, wasn't he?
Thinking of this, I hesitated, wondering whether to reveal that Gou Danzi was the murderer. If this matter were revealed, Gou Danzi would face two possibilities.
First, he would be beaten severely by the parents of the four children and become a pariah in the village, cursed by everyone. Although his reputation would be ruined, at least he would still have food to eat. The second possibility was that the village chief would expel him from the village collective through a vote. In that case, not only would his land be repossessed, but his dilapidated house would also have to be vacated.
Either of these outcomes would have a significant impact on Gou Danzi. Although I wasn’t a saint, facing this “uncle” who was seven or eight years older than me, I found it hard to condemn him.
I took a deep breath and said, “Just write your name. You also said that only I in the village understand Yin Gua, and my master used to handle most of the funerals. So, you insist that I captured the souls of the children. Our village has never had a ‘Chu Ma’ (a type of shamanic practice). Now you claim to be a ‘Chu Ma,’ so I have every reason to suspect you are the murderer. Now that I have proven I am not the murderer who confined the souls of the children, it is your turn to prove you are not the murderer. My request is simple: you just need to write your name. If your handwriting differs from the writing on the yellow paper, it proves you are not the murderer. If it is the same, then I am sorry, and how you are dealt with will be decided by everyone.”
Hearing this, Gou Danzi’s face turned from red to black. His previously hunched body suddenly straightened, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards at a forty-five-degree angle.
“Song Qingyun, I didn’t expect you to be so damn clever. You could even come up with this method, haha…”
Gou Danzi, who had been standing still for a long time, suddenly burst into wild laughter, appearing somewhat deranged. This made everyone present certain that Gou Danzi was the murderer who had confined the souls of these children.
“That’s right, I confined the souls of those children. What can you do to me? Are you going to kill me?”
Gou Danzi’s words stunned everyone. How to deal with him was indeed a difficult question. In ancient times, if this matter were exposed, being beaten to a pulp would be considered light punishment. If the families of the murdered children had some influence, they might even skin Gou Danzi alive.
But this is the new society, and during the founding of the country, there was a period of upheaval that involved overthrowing all “ghosts and monsters” and convincing people that ghosts and gods did not exist. If this matter were reported to the police, they might not be able to handle it and might even accuse us of practicing feudal superstition. We might even be arrested.
“Damn it, it really is you, you little bastard. Why did you do this?” Brother Zhang, who had a fiery temper, heard this and rushed to Gou Danzi in three steps, grabbing him by the collar and preparing to hit him. Brother Zhang was a one-meter-eight tall man who worked the land year-round, his body as strong as a bear. Gou Danzi was only a little over one meter six, less than one meter seven. Dealing with Gou Danzi was like playing for Brother Zhang.
But the result was beyond everyone’s expectations. Brother Zhang raised his fist and punched Gou Danzi, but his fist stopped a palm’s distance away from Gou Danzi. Gou Danzi looked at him with disdain, grabbed Brother Zhang’s fist with his left hand, and said, “With your strength, do you think you can fight me? Are you worthy?” As Gou Danzi finished speaking, the burly Brother Zhang actually flew up into the air, his feet leaving the ground by nearly half a meter, and then with a thud, he landed on the ground, coughing violently.
*Pfft—*
A stream of red flowed from the corner of Brother Zhang’s mouth.
“You…” Brother Zhang pointed at Gou Danzi, then suddenly fainted. This left everyone present dumbfounded, and even I felt a sense of helplessness, not knowing what had just happened.
“Heh heh… haha… You all deserve to die. You looked down on me, you called me a wild child, why?” Seeing this, my heart sank, because a surge of Yin energy suddenly appeared on Gou Danzi, and he was now being controlled by this Yin energy.
“Everyone, step back. Don’t get too close to him. He’s been possessed.” Actually, even without my words, everyone had already involuntarily distanced themselves from Gou Danzi. Brother Zhang, over one meter eight, was knocked to the ground by Gou Danzi, who was less than one meter seven, and his life was unknown. Who wouldn’t be scared after seeing this? Moreover, Gou Danzi’s eyes were now bloodshot, looking like he had conjunctivitis, which was extremely terrifying.
“Uncle Gou, calm down, don’t be impulsive…” While speaking words of comfort, I was mentally figuring out how to deal with possession. I was good at Yin Gua and divination of corpses, but I was far from skilled in exorcism. If it were just an evil spirit, I would have a way to deal with it, but I felt powerless against an evil spirit possessing Gou Danzi. The techniques I learned were all aimed at Yin souls and evil spirits; my master had never taught me how to deal with possessed spirits.
“You little bastard, you ruined my plans and killed my immortal. I’ll kill you first.” As soon as Gou Danzi finished speaking, he charged at me and threw a punch at my forehead. From the ferocious expression on his face, it was clear he intended to smash my nose with one punch. If he hit me squarely, I would be crippled.
I lowered my body and bent my knees, thrusting towards his abdomen. However, I didn’t use as much force as Gou Danzi. This blow landed squarely, rendering him temporarily unable to move.
*Bang—*
“Ouch, damn it, did I hit iron?”